Laboratory Equipment for Research in Humid Tropical Systems

La Selva生物站是哥斯达黎加的一个低地热带雨林站点，目前是世界上最活跃的热带生物学研究中心之一。一个现代化的生物实验室毗邻50,000公顷的森林保护区，跨越3000米的垂直样带，在潮湿的热带地区是独一无二的。最近在La Selva增加了600公顷的改变和/或可操纵的栖息地，促进了大规模面向过程的研究的大量增加。各种各样的研究人员和学术机构正在利用这些机会。在La Selva已经达到了一个关键的多学科质量，这同时刺激了新的研究路线，并将现有的实验室设施推向了极限。根据这个生物设施中心的建议，需要资金来装备一个现代化的分析实验室，以服务于这个日益增长的相互关联的研究工作网络。这个具有一流仪器的分析实验室（地理信息系统和标准和最先进的设备，以便进行现场评估）将大大加强新技术在热带雨林生物学研究中的应用。由于La Selva与美国学术界的很大一部分关系，该设施将使用户受益于不同寻常的广泛的地理和学科范围。在一个拥有卓越多学科研究记录的热带雨林地区发展技术先进的基础设施，将对下一代热带生态系统知识产生重大影响。

La Selva Biological Station, a lowland tropical rain forest site in Costa Rica, is currently one of the world's most active centers for research in tropical biology. The existence of a modern biological laboratory adjacent to 50,000 ha of protected forests spanning a 3000-m altitudinal transect is unique in the humid tropics. The recent addition to La Selva of 600 ha of altered and/or manipulable habitats has fostered a quantum increase in large-scale process-oriented research. An exceptionally diverse spectrum of researchers and academic institutions are taking advantage of these opportunities. A critical multidisciplinary mass has been reached at La Selva, which is simultaneously stimulating new lines of research and pushing existing laboratory facilities to their limits. With this Biological Facilities Center proposal, funds are requested to equip a modern analytical laboratory to serve this growing network of interrelated research efforts. This analytical laboratory with first-rate instrumentation (GIS and standard and state-of-the-art equipment to permit onsite evaluation) will greatly intensify the application of new techniques to the biological study of tropical rain forest. Owing to La Selva's ties to a large proportion of the U.S. academic community, this facility will benefit users from an unusually broad geographic and disciplinary spectrum. The development of technologically advanced infrastructure at a rain forest site with an exceptional record of multidisciplinary research will have a major impact on the next generation of knowledge of tropical ecosystems.